


The Execution

by SephyAthredon



Series: SephyAthredon Whumptober 2020 [6]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Blood, Canon Divergence, Carrying, FFVII AU Terra, Found Family, Gen, Gun Wounds, Gunshots, Member of AVALANCHE Terra, Prompt number 7, Public Execution, Surgery, Whumptober 2020, Wounds, mako poisoning, rewrite of several scenes, sibling relationships, soft Barret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27287422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SephyAthredon/pseuds/SephyAthredon
Summary: A rewrite of the scene after Cloud goes missing in the Remake with a FFVII AU Terra added in. It's a bit slow at first but it picks up. Terra and Barret have been friends for a while by the time this scene came around, ever since Corel where Terra learned about his story. Now Cloud is missing and Terra has been injured, it's up to Barret to make sure he stays alive until he can get help.
Relationships: Cloud Strife/Terra (Final Fantasy VII), Terra & Barret, Terra & Cait Sith, Terra & Nanaki, Terra & Tifa
Series: SephyAthredon Whumptober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992352
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	The Execution

**Author's Note:**

> This is another self indulgent one about my FFVII Terra. This is an important event that happened to him as part of AVALANCHE. I tried putting my Canon Divergences headcanon (Which is on Terra's blog, WillfulWayfarer) into story form, I’m not sure I really succeeded at that but it took way too long to write. More information on FFVII Terra can be found on that blog.

Seven days. Seven days have passed since Cloud went missing. Terra, Barret, and Tifa had been detained in Junon where they were placed in a room to await something… probably an execution. Terra was numb to it all, watching Tifa sleep. She had been out this whole time, which worried him. His thoughts mostly resided on where Cloud could be.

The last time he saw Cloud was in the Northern Crater, where both of them had been manipulated by Sephiroth. He would have been with the other if he hadn’t broken away. Terra sighed and wished for the dozenth time today that he could have saved the man somehow. He was the closest to him. He could have reached out and grabbed Cloud, but he was too afraid for his own life.

Everyone had made their escape on the Highwind, an airship that President Rufus had brought with him. Tifa had hit her head and passed out due to one of the weapons flying too close. Seeing those giant things in action had shocked Terra and made him a little scared as to what was coming next.

He was jolted from his thoughts by the sound of Tifa talking in her sleep. He had been leaning against the back wall, next to Barret, who replied to her with a ‘huh?’

“The glare…” Tifa replied.

Barret’s expression changed to one of concern, “You’ll feel better soon. You’ve been asleep for a long time.”

“I’m... hungry…” She replied, 

“Hey, why don’t you ask…” Barret stood up straight, suddenly, “About him.”

Terra knew exactly who he was talking about. Tifa had been asleep so she didn’t have the chance to let the fact that Cloud was gone sink in.

Slowly, Tifa sat up and then she looked to Barret, “Because I’m scared.”

“I would be too.” Terra admitted, looking away from Tifa.

“Don’t worry, I don’t know what happened to Cloud either.” Barret replied, moving past Terra.

Tifa looked to Terra as if expecting him to have all the answers, since he had been the closest to him at the time.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know either.” His voice was tinged with regret. “I saw him fall, but lost track of him after that.” 

Barret glanced back at Terra, but then looked at Tifa, placing his human hand nervously behind his head, “Guess I shouldn’t tell you not to worry… none of them know if he’s alright either.” Barret meant the other party members.

“He’s still alive, right?” Tifa stared blankly forward at the blinds that covered the window in front of her.

“Of course he is. He’s a SOLDIER 1st. They don’t go down so easily.” Terra said this to reassure Tifa, but he’s not sure he believes it himself.

Barret nodded in agreement, but didn’t say much else.

“How long... was I asleep?” Tifa asked, looking at Barret.

“Lesse now… Must’ve been about 7 days.”

“What about Sephiroth?”

Terra’s left hand clenched into a fist at the very mention of the name, but he stayed quiet.

“You ain’t over it yet.” Barret responded, walking to the other side of the room, “Remember that huge light in the Northern Cave? Since then, the crater’s been surrounded by a huge barrier of light.” Slowly, Tifa moved herself so she was sitting on the table. Terra went up to the other side of the table, opposite of where Barret was. “Everyone knows Sephiroth sleeps in that big hole, protected by the barrier.”

“We can’t do anything about it, we just have to wait until he wakes up.” Terra interjected just as Barret was about to continue. Barret looked to him and nodded.

“Exactly what I was going to say. Anyway, on topa that, some huge monsters called Weapons have been on a rampage.”

“Weapon?”

“Remember that huge monster that was with Sephiroth, at the bottom of the crater?” Barret asked, “Well it’s up here now. They say it’s some legendary monster from the past.”

“Weapon... is protecting Sephiroth?” There was a surprised tone to Tifa’s voice as she said that.

“That’s the conclusion I arrived at as well.” Terra responded.

“Dunno if that’s true. But he’s up here goin’ around tearin’ shit up. Right now Rufus’ fightin’ it. I hate to say it, but he’s got guts.”

Terra nodded his head in agreement.

Barret went to stand near the blinds as he continued, and Terra moved to stand with him, “We shoulda been the ones to destroy it, but we ain’t got no time.” 

“Time… Hey! How about Meteor.” As if to answer Tifa, Barret pressed a button that pulled all the blinds up, to reveal a sinister omen in the sky. 

Tifa turned to Barret with frown on her face, “...do we have to give up?”

The man’s answer was short and simple, “Dunno”

Terra replied next, shrugging his shoulders, “Same here. We’re not in a good position right now. I don’t know if-”

The mechanical noise of the door to their room opening was what interrupted Terra. He and his friends all turned to face it and watch as Rufus Shinra entered the room.

“I thought Cloud would show up to save you all… Professor Hojo wanted to check up on Cloud, too.” 

Tifa gestured with one of her hands as she spoke “What are you going to do to Cloud?”

“Sephiroth’s alter ego…” The president answered immediately, his expression thoughtful, after a moment he shrugged it off and ran a hand through his hair, looking back up at the three of them, “Meteor has been summoned… Essentially, It’s all but over now.” Rufus took a few steps toward the three in the corner, “So, there’s no need for you now.” He paused for a moment, “No, maybe there is an important task for you…”

And then Heidegger stepped into the room. His mere presence sent off alarm bells within Terra’s mind. He was the head of security for Shinra and definitely bad news. His suspicious were confirmed when the man spoke.

“President! Preparations for the public execution are complete.”

Barret was the first to react, shouting “Execution!? What’re you gonna get by execution’ us?” 

“They’re trying to pin the blame on us for this, like with the plate collapse.” Terra managed to answer before Rufus could speak.

“Exactly. People are ignorant. They’ll feel better as long as someone is punished.” 

Barret pushed past Terra and moved closer to Rufus, shaking his fist in anger, “I take back what little praise I had for this damn jackass!”

“Well, enjoy your last moments together.” Were Rufus’ last words before he left and Heidegger approached them.

“I’ll tie your arms now.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three of them were escorted through the base, their hands bound behind their back, until they got to a press room with blue lights shining down and foldable chairs dotting the area in front of the big table. There were only a few people in attendance, something that didn’t surprise Terra, since most people were probably hiding in fear of Meteor.

Scarlet was standing in front of the table, wearing her usual red dress, a grin on her face.

“The hell are these people?” Barret was the first person to speak to which Shinra’s head of weapon’s development quickly replied.

“We will be broadcasting your miserable deaths live on national television.” Terra had guessed as much, given Rufus’ earlier statement about putting everyone’s minds at ease.

One of the other people in the room, a large bulky person with big shoes and an orange hat. None of their facial features were visible, at least none Terra could make out standing behind them. They seemed to be a news reporter as they held a mic in their large hands, which amplified their voice.

“Scarlet, why a public execution in this day and age?”

The woman started pacing as she answered, “With the chaos resulting from the Meteor report, we desperately need to rally public support… it’s better that we punish somebody, anybody.” Those words made Terra uneasy.

“You make me sick.” Tifa was the next to speak up, looking to her right, away from Scarlet.

She answered with a laugh, “Ha ha ha ha! They’ll never admit it, but everyone loves this stuff! We’ll start with this girl.” She pointed to Tifa

Barret and Terra both immediately started struggling against their bonds.

“If you’ve got to do it… do me first!” Barret shouted.

“No! Do me!” Terra wrenched away from the guard holding him to get in front of Barret, locking eyes with Scarlet. She regarded them both with a disinterested expression. 

“Camera, this way! Make sure you get this, the audience just eats up tearful goodbyes!” Came Scarlet’s reply. Sure enough, the camera whirled around and zoomed in on Terra and Barret.

Scarlet grabbed Tifa by the arm and started leading her away.

“No!” Terra went after her, but was stopped by the guard he had broken free of before. He just stared at the door after Scarlet and Tifa went inside, “Tifa…”

After a while, Scarlet came back out, that grin back on her face, “Well now, the show’s about to begin. Ha, ha, ha!”

“What did you do to Tifa!?” Barret shouted, struggling once more.

“Oh, don’t worry about her. You’ll see her again soon… in the lifestream.” She approached the two of them, “Now it was you who wanted to go next, wasn’t it?” Scarlet looked to Terra.

He nodded, his expression on of anger, “If you think you’re getting away with this, you’re wrong.”

“Terra…” Barret watched at Terra was brought to the front of the room, “Leave him out of this! I’m the leader of AVALANCHE! It’s me you want!”

Barret’s comment went largely ignored as Scarlet looked to Terra, noticing his eyes, “Ah, another SOLDIER who escaped the system, huh? If that’s true then this has been a long time coming for you.” She made a gesture to one of the Infantrymen and the man shouldered his gun, “Make sure the camera has a good view of him, I want everyone to see this.” She addressed the camera directly, “Today we will be executing the members of the underground resistance AVALANCHE for bringing that abomination in the sky upon us.”

She stepped back by the other end of the room so that she didn’t get caught in the crossfire. She did not notice the purple coated figure step into the aisle across from her, only a row of chairs between them.

Terra was forced to stare into the camera, either that or to stare down the barrel of the gun that would be his demise. He almost didn’t hear it when Scarlet spoke again.

“Do remember that he is SOLDIER, It’ll take more than just one bullet to put an end to his life.” After another pause, she gave the command, “Fire!”

Searing pain cut through Terra’s chest as the infantryman shot him over and over. He stumbled back against the table. Through the haze of pain, he could hear Barret shouting and letting out a litany of swears, as well as calling Terra’s name.

He’d counted six separate bullets going into his torso, peppering his shirt with holes. Blood seeped through the wounds and down his shirt.

Fortunately, the whole place shook, causing the seventh bullet to miss, and the alarm went off. A voice blared over the sound system “Emergency! Emergency! Weapon approaching! Attention all military personnel: take your positions!”

Terra could hear an a noise from where the Infantryman that had been shooting him had been standing, looking up a little confirmed his suspicion that Barret had thrown his weight against that infantryman, knocking him out. He could also hear the panicked voices of the other people in the room as most of them left.

“Hey, hey, all of you! Damn! Why now?” Scarlet’s voice reached Terra’s ears, “Oh well, at least we got two of them” 

“How does it feel now, Scarlet?” The purple coated figures voice cut in on her musing,

“Hmm, so you didn’t run? I’m impressed. How do I feel? Right now…” Her voice trailed off, as the figure sprayed her with something.

“Huh!? Sleeping gas?” Barret had just gotten up from his position on the floor, another guard standing between him and Terra.

The figure soon revealed himself to be Cait Sith and a battle ensued, with them fighting the last infantryman left in the room. It didn’t take long.

Barret went immediately to Terra’s side when the battle ended and Cait Sith approached too, “I’m here to help!”

“Why you…….?” Ain’t you a part of Shinra?”

“Lets just say I’m against capital punishment. Besides… I hate this broad. Come on, we gotta help Tifa.”

“But… Terra…” Barret scooped the man gently into his arms, using the gun arm to support him.

“I… I think I can hold on for a little while longer…” Terra responded, looking up at Barret, “P-Please, help Tifa.”

He nodded and moved toward the door.

“I’ll keep watch at the entrance then!” Cait responded, heading toward it.

When Barret got to the door, he tried everything he could. He kicked it, he shoulder bashed it, he did everything short of shooting it down, he couldn’t do that because his arms were full.

“It won’t open!” He tried for even longer, until he could feel the blood from Terra seeping into his clothes. He had to choose. Either he leaves Tifa behind or he lets the man in his arms die.

“Shi-!” Barret tried one last shoulder hit for good measure, then went to Cait Sith.

“The Gas Room’s probably locked from a different room!” 

“Hmm, we gotta go with a different plan. Let’s get out of this room first.”

Barret nodded, looking back toward the gas chamber door, “Tifa! I’ll help you, I promise!”  
Then he followed Cait out of the room. Once they were out of the room the sound of doors closing caught Barret’s attention. He whirled around and realized that the press room’s doors had shut behind him. He tried the same thing as he has done before, to no avail.

“No! They locked this too!”

Scarlet’s voice was muffled from behind the door, “Fools. Now, you can’t save the girl.” This line was followed by laughter.

“Goddammit…!!” Barret replied, trying even harder, but it still didn’t budge.

“Ok, ok.” Cait spoke as soon as Barret turned to him, “time for Plan B. Lets run to the airport!”

"Why the airport? An' leave Tifa there?"

"Trust me, besides, we can't let Terra die, right?"

Barret took a moment to look at the man in his arms. Terra was already pale and had lost a lot of blood. One hand clung to the collar of Barret’s vest, "No, I suppose not." His voice was softer than normal. 

The run to the airport was a tough one, with SOLDIERs trying to stop them from escaping left and right. Eventually, the group ran into Yuffie, who noticed Terra first, “Hey, what’s wrong with him?” She asked, looking up at Barret.

“He got shot. Come on, we’re headed to the airport with or without you.” He replied, continuing his run to the airport.

“H-Hey! Wait!” She went to rush after him, but both of them were interrupted by Sapphire Weapon suddenly appearing from beneath the water. She stopped to stare for a moment before realizing that Barret was getting farther and farther away and running to catch up.

Soon the four of them made it to the airport.

“Yo! You sure this is the right way? It’s a dead end!” Barret shouted, eyes on Cait.

“Uh oh? Did I make a wrong turn?” The robotic cat replied, placing a finger to his chin as if he were thinking about it.

“You damn cat…! Terra’s going to die because of you! What the hell’re we gonna do now? They’ll all be comin’ soon too!” He looked back down at the man in his arms. He was even paler than he’d been when Barret first picked him up. His eyes were half lidded and that hand never leaves it’s spot, clinging to his vest. In that moment, he realized what he had to do.

“Damn! You two watch my back! If we don’t help Terra now, he might not survive long enough for us to get him help later.”

Yuffie, who was usually cheerful and upbeat stood next to Barret with a solemn expression on her face, nodding to him. Cait went to the other side of the man, scanning the area for signs of trouble.

“Do what you have to do. We’ve got your back!”

Barret nodded and backed a good distance between the other two, laying Terra down on the pavement.

“Damn, you better not die on me. We still need you.” He unzipped one of the pockets in his pants and pulled out some bandages he kept on him for moments such as these. He did what he could, pulling Terra’s shirt up and bandaging his waist tightly to stop the bleeding. All this time, Terra let out whimpers and cries of pain. He’s never felt a greater pain than these wounds, not in all his time in SOLDIER, except maybe during his transition into the program where his immune system had attacked the Mako and Jenova cells invading his body.

“Ahh… Barret…” One hand reached up and grabbed the other’s shoulder, “Barret, I’m dying…”

“The hell you are!? I’m not going to let another one die on me.” Barret’s expression was sad, the death of Aerith was still so fresh in his mind.

It was slow working with only one hand, but Barret managed to keep Terra propped up with his gun arm as he used the other to wrap the bandages around. He managed to get the bleeding to stop though, and Terra seemed to be in stable condition for now.

“Hey! I see someone!” Yuffie shouted back at Barret.

The man stood, leaving Terra lying there, and turned around, spotting the figures in the distance immediately. He readied his gun arm.

“Looks like they found us” He brandished it, aiming for the figures and ready to fire once they got in range, but as they got closer and closer, they started to look more familiar.

“Barret, don’t shoot!” Came Cait’s voice, “Those are our friends!” 

Slowly, Barret lowered his gun as he saw the forms of Cid, Nanaki, and Vincent getting closer to him. He nodded to Cait and went to pick Terra up again, heading toward them to meet them halfway.

“Boy am I glad we found each other” Cid spoke first, but Nanaki was soon to follow, standing next to Barret and looking up at the bandaged figure in his arms.

“What happened to Terra?” As hard as he tried, he couldn’t hide the worry in his voice.

“I’ll explain later, right now, let’s get out of here!” Barret replied, looking around for an exit.

“Agreed!” Cid replied, pointing to the Highwind, “And that’s our ticket out of here!”

Barret took a moment to look behind him and then back at Cid, “Ya mean we’re going to hijack that ship?”

Cid nodded, “Technically I’m only taking back what’s rightfully mine, I built it after all. Lets go!” He started heading to the ship.

Barret nodded, “Hang in there Terra…”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next thing Terra knew, he was in one of the bunks in the Highwind barracks. He also noticed he wasn’t alone. He looked over, spotting Nanaki sitting next to his bed. Terra reached a hand over and gently brushed his shaking fingers against Nanaki’s fur, notifying him of Terra’s presence.

“Oh, you’re awake” He nuzzled the other gently in greeting, “How do you feel?”

“T-Terrible…” Terra replied, his vision blurry and his eyes only half open, "D-don't worry, though. I'm not going to die on you. You're not going to lose your big brother." It sounded odd just saying that, knowing that Nanaki was physically older than him, but really it was like having a teenage brother.

Nanaki let out a whimper in response, "I hope not. I don't know if I could take losing you too."

He dug his hands into Nanaki’s fur, not even having the energy left to really move it much at all, “You won’t… I promise….”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next time he woke, he was back in Barret’s arms. He was vaguely aware of building’s on either side.

“This is the place you were talkin’ bout, right Red?” Barret asked.

“Yeah, the Mideel Clinic. They should be able to help Terra.” Came Nanaki’s voice. 

The next few moments went by in a blur, but he heard someone say that Cloud was in the room with them, that he was suffering from an extreme case of Mako poisoning, and may not survive. 

He wanted to say something, but he was already starting to black out. He let go of the thought for the moment and let the world go dark.

Next time he woke, his back was against cold metal. His head was fuzzy, but he didn’t feel any pain. He could faintly hear the voices of people he didn’t recognize.

“He’s awake. He’s not supposed to be awake during the procedure.” He was aware of a black haired man with glasses in a labcoat looking down at him. At first he was afraid it was Hojo, but this man looked nothing like that mad scientist.

The next thing he was aware of was that somebody was holding his right hand, their hand was way bigger than his. He moved his head a little and realized that it was Barret. 

“Rest, Terra. Don’t worry ‘bout what’s happening now. I ain’t gonna let anything bad happen to ya, I promise.”

Terra gave the man a small smile and laid back against the cold steel once more. He could hear, who he assumed to be, the doctor and nurse talking faintly in the background before something was injected into him and he blacked out.

Before he did, he felt Barret’s hand give his a light squeeze.

Next time he woke up was in the dead of night. Slowly, he sat up from the bed, vaguely aware of constant groaning and cries of pain from the bed next to his, by the window. He could see Tifa over there, and another form in the bed. Tifa was fast asleep, sitting on a stool by the bed and leaning against the frame. 

Slowly, Terra got up and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Cloud laying in the bed. He looked so vulnerable and it made Terra scared as a reaction. He reached down and put one hand over one of Cloud’s wishing he could do something. Quietly, he slipped into the bed next to Cloud’s wrapping his arms around the other. The least he could do was provide comfort.

“It’s Terra, don’t worry… I don’t really know what’s wrong with you, but I’m here… I’m here.”

What Terra didn’t see was that Cloud opened his eyes a little bit. All he saw through the mako green filter was Terra’s shirt, which was riddled with six bullet holes. 

“Z….Zaa….” He said this quietly, so quietly that Terra barely picked it up, and he couldn’t finish the name, his eyes closing as he fell back asleep, clinging tightly to Terra as if his life depended on it. Memories that he could hardly understand flooded his brain. The only thing he understood was that he had to keep this man close to him, no matter what. A sudden thought overwhelmed Cloud’s brain, one that startled him.

I don’t want to lose him again…

For the moment, that thought was pushed aside as exhaustion overwhelmed Cloud once again, along with the same pain he had been feeling for hours.

He gave himself up to nothingness once more.


End file.
